And After the Silence...

Shoulda known better. Just after that glorious day of sailing when all was quiet and serene, my next time out was not so good. Oh yes, it was still wonderful (Any time out on the water is wonderful.) But we had barely got out there than the breeze died, and we had to use the motor to get us back...
Still, it caused me to ponder (as what does not?) Too often we seek those times and  places of silence, and then don't do anything about it. The stillness becomes a place to escape to, rather than a harbor out of which to sail.
It has been observed that action and faith must be yoked. Yes, we need those moments when we can be still and know God, those passing experiences of the divine. But sooner or later we must come down from the mountaintop and put that inspirational catharsis to use.
Much as works without faith are just empty sounds without sense or meaning, signifying nothing (with apologies to Shakespeare), so our avocations of faith without visible evidence are merely mouth-noises. Never mind what you say you believe, I need you to show me what you are doing about it!
Too often, clients come in without anything that brings meaning to life. Never mind what it might be, or if I would agree/approve/understand. Such are going through life without a sense of direction or purpose. They are like sailboats when the wind was gone, and they are thrown back on waiting for a breeze, or giving in and limping back to the dock via their little diesel engine.
Yes, there are periods in everyone's life when some new direction arises, and we set off on a divergent course. Times when some new insight points us to port or starboard, calling for a new setting of the sails. Times when it is only a matter of minutes before that fresh coastal breeze comes along and off we go again. But we can also choose what we believe, and what we intend to do about it, the same way some sailors contrive to keep moving regardless of the whims of Aeolus (that's the god of the winds, to you.)
So what do you believe? And what are you doing about it?